Today, Heaven Dou Empire's Heaven Dou City is abuzz with excitement as the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament officially begins.
Various academies and noble families are on their way to the largest battle arena in the city—the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena! Outside the arena, a grand platform has been constructed, standing over a hundred meters tall, pointing towards the heavens. Three individuals sit atop this platform.
Outside, teams continue to arrive one after another. Teams from Blazing Academy, Sky Sorrow Academy, Elephant Armor Academy, Tianshui Academy, and Heaven Dou Academy are among the participants.
Of course, the city also sees the arrival of countless nobles and princes, including Prince Xue Xing, Prince Xue Beng, and Chief Meng Shenji.
Amidst the gathering of talents, one team particularly stands out, drawing the attention of many. However, the Soul Masters' gazes toward this team are filled with peculiar expressions.
"Look at them! Their uniforms even have advertisements on them. It's hilarious!" someone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"What kind of academy is this? Their team uniforms are green. Are they a turtle squad? Hahaha!" someone mocked.
"What turtle squad? Get it right; it's more like a 'tortoise squad,' isn't it?" people ridiculed.
The odd outfits and strange behavior naturally referred to the Shrek Academy team.
Hearing the various discussions, the faces of the Shrek team members turned dark. They looked as uncomfortable as could be, feeling both angry and ashamed, wishing they could find a hole to hide in.
But they had no choice; these green uniforms were designed by Flender to attract sponsorship and funding for the academy.
Many students from other academies passed by. Those with good manners didn't say anything but still cast strange glances, as if they were watching a clown show.
"Those people weren't wrong; there's indeed a 'tortoise squad' here, and it suits them perfectly," some noble children mocked ruthlessly.
Xiao Wu, with her sweet appearance, was already feeling down. Hearing such comments only made her angrier. With her fiery temper, she couldn't hold back and wanted to confront those people immediately. But her third brother stopped her.
"Your whole family is a tortoise squad! It's called freedom of clothing, ever heard of it?" she retorted, her long braid swinging as she spoke. Despite her fierce expression and sharp little teeth, she still looked more cute than threatening.
In fact, she looked almost adorably fierce… This was Chen Xuan's immediate thought.
"Hey, this little girl is quite pretty. Why stay in that shabby academy? Join our team, and we'll take good care of you, hahaha!" a few young men laughed lewdly.
Tang San, who had been quiet until now, suddenly wore a dark expression, looking furious.
However, those men had already walked away, clearly just making idle threats.
Still, Tang San had marked those people in his mind. Xiao Wu was his sister, the most important person in his life, someone he swore to protect forever. He would not let anyone insult her.
Chen Xuan noticed everything. He remembered how, back in the mountains, when he had humiliated Yu Xiaogang, the other man had looked at him in the same way.
"If we encounter that team, with Tang San's personality, he will definitely do something." Chen Xuan became alert, realizing he needed to stay cautious around Tang San to avoid any unexpected trouble.
For now, he would endure. His strength was still far from enough to confront Tang San directly, and a head-on clash would be hard to handle.
"What a cheap way to grab attention, trying to stand out like this?" At this moment, a highly sarcastic voice rang out.
It was from the students of Sky Sorrow Academy, whose seven-man team looked at the Shrek team with utter disdain, as if they were mere clowns.
"What did you say? Want to fight?" Dai Mubai was instantly furious, his soul power surging within him.
There had been conflicts between Sky Sorrow Academy and Shrek Academy before. The two academies had clashed twice, and the animosity was irreconcilable.
"Forget it, Mubai. Don't argue with them. Let's show our real strength in the competition." Tang San spoke up, holding back the enraged Dai Mubai.
"Cowards," the Sky Sorrow Academy students sneered, walking away with mocking laughter.
The tournament had strict rules forbidding any fighting outside the competition arena, and everyone had to obey.
Seeing this, Ma Hongjun's face fell, and he sighed dejectedly, "Third brother, Boss Dai, I don't want to wear this uniform anymore. Can we ask the dean to change it?"
"Third brother, Boss Dai, I agree with Fatty. I don't want to wear this uniform either," Oscar added.
Tang San and Dai Mubai were equally embarrassed. They too wanted to get rid of these uniforms.
"Yeah, brother, I don't want to wear it anymore either. This outfit is really humiliating!"
Xiao Wu grabbed Tang San's arm, shaking it as she pleaded, "Brother, please think of something and ask the dean to change it."
"Sigh," Tang San sighed, turning to the others for their opinions.
Ning Rongrong, Oscar, Tai Long, and the others all shook their heads. Even Zhu Zhuqing, who was always cold and indifferent, clearly expressed her desire to change the uniforms.
"Chen Xuan, what about you?" Jiang Zhu approached Chen Xuan and asked softly.
"The same," Chen Xuan replied with just two words.
"Alright."
Jiang Zhu walked away to inform Tang San and the others of the team's unanimous decision.
"Alright, I'll give it a try then." Finally, with no other choice, Tang San and Dai Mubai went to negotiate with the dean.
The sun was shining, and the weather was clear. After handling the tedious tasks of registration and other formalities, Chen Xuan left the team, deciding to take a walk and get some fresh air while observing the various people around.
The opening match had drawn many people to the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena, including nobles, wealthy children, and students from various academies.
As Chen Xuan wandered, he encountered many talented individuals from various sects, gifted students from certain academies, and noble children with considerable soul power.
"Over there… that should be Dragon Duke, Snake Grandma, and their granddaughter, Meng Yiran," he muttered to himself.
To the west, two elderly people were leading a young girl. The elders' walking sticks were clearly not ordinary; one was carved with a dragon head, and the other with a snake head.
This led Chen Xuan to guess their identities.
"Beast Academy, I suppose…"
If his guess was correct, the academy Meng Yiran attended was indeed this one, which was in a different competition zone, so they wouldn't face Shrek.
"Wow, there are so many people!" Xiao Wu appeared, dressed in pink, with her scorpion braid falling to her knees. Her sweet face was full of vitality.
Chen Xuan turned around and saw that she was alone, with no one accompanying her.
It made sense; with her lively and mischievous personality, staying cooped up in the rest area would be unusual.
"So, did the dean agree to change the uniforms?" Chen Xuan asked with a smile.
Xiao Wu was dressed in a pink outfit, revealing her fair neck and a sweet face. She wore a pink short skirt that showed off her long, slender legs, wrapped in pink stockings, with her white thighs visible.
"Huh? What are you doing here?" She seemed to notice Chen Xuan only then, looking curious.
Chen Xuan's mouth twitched. Was he really that unnoticeable? That hurt a bit.
"I'm just out for a walk, trying to meet new faces and see what kind of opponents we'll be facing."
"Oh." Xiao Wu nodded, seemingly understanding, but didn't say anything more.
The two of them weren't familiar with each other, having only met a couple of times, so neither knew what to say, making the atmosphere increasingly awkward.
Chen Xuan felt his head throbbing; the silence was uncomfortable, as if the air had frozen.
Xiao Wu also felt the awkwardness. She wasn't familiar with this classmate, and without a topic to discuss, she had no idea what to talk about.
"I have to say something," she thought to herself, searching her mind for a topic.
Chen Xuan was in the same boat, but he wasn't experienced in this sort of situation and couldn't think of anything to say. Suddenly, he remembered that this rabbit girl seemed to like carrots.
And he just happened to have a crystal carrot stored in his spatial soul guide.
Both of them brightened up as they found a topic, and almost simultaneously, they spoke:
"What's your name?"
"Do you want a carrot?"